Railway-tie.



Y. N o. 7|2.943'. A Patented Nov. 4, |902.

T. M. LEE an. w. HATsoN.

RAILWAY TIE.

(Application med sept. ao, 1901.)

(No Manel.)

* TSSES m: Norms sirens no.. moalumo., wnsumcuu, n. c.

Ntra@ mares .WENT OFFICE.

THOMAS M. LEE AND GEORGE W. I-IARTSON, OF VHITE PIGEON, MICHIGAN.

'RAILWAY-TIE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 712,943, dated November4, 1902.

Application tied september so, 1901. serai No. 77.138. (Neuman.)

To @ZZ whom traag/concern: I

Be it known that 'ive, THOMAS M. LEE and GEORGE .W. HRfrsoN, residing atVWhite Pigeomlin the county of St, Joseph and State ofMichigan,,haveinvented a new and ImprovedRailway-Tie, of which thefollowing is a specification.

Our invention relates to improvements in that class of tie or railsupporting base members formed partly or wholly of cement; and it seeksto provide certain improvements in rail-ties of the character statedwhereby to render their cost of construction more economical, theiradjustment vthe more convenient and stable, and which'in their practicaluse will effectively serve for their intendedA purposes.

In its generic nature our invention seeks to and interlock with thebase-lianges of the rails Yand having specially-disposed andrigidly-held stud-bolts adapted to engage with and serve to lock theclamp'lplates upon the cement tie-body for holding the rails againstlateral strain and within the cross-seats `in the said cement tie.

In its more l'complete nature our invention embodies a novelcoustructionof tie having specially-constructed seats to receive andinterlock with the base-anges of the rails, stud-bolts at each side ofsaid Ways held as a Xed part ofthe tie, metallic seat-plates, and anovel construction of joint or clamp plate for cooperating with thestud-bolts and adapted to be maintained in a locked or rigid conditionwith the stud-bolts that secure the tie seat-plates, other details ofconstruction ibeing also included in our invention, allof which willhereinafter be fully explained, and

particularly pointed out in the appended claims, reference being had tothe accompa-f nying drawings, 'in Which- Figure l is a perspectiveviewof our invention. Fig. 2 is a crosssection of thersame, takensubstantially on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 2 is a similar View takenthrough the joint portion of the rails. Fig. 3 is alongitudinal sectionthereof on the line 3 3 of Fig. l. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of oneof the cross-tie members. Fig. 5 is asimilar View of one ofthe-clamp-plates. Fig. 6 is a detail View of one of therail-joint-clamping plates hereinafter referred to. Fig. 6a is aperspective view of one of said plates.

Referring now to the accompanying drawin gs,in which likenumeralsindicate like parts in all the figures, l designates thecross-ties, which in our construction are made of cement, sand, andgravel compressed into a solid body having a length and width of desiredsize. The upper face of the tie is formed with two crossseats ordepressed ways 2, the edges of which are undercut or inclined inward toform locking edges 2, adapted to project over and interlock with thebase-flanges 3*"L of the rails 3, as shown, whereby to maintain therails and f the cross-ties in a proper alinement. While we prefer tomake the edges 2Pinclined, as stated, said edgesY may be straight,as'indilcated inFigfl.

At each side of the seats 24and centrally of the tie is embedded a bolt4 4, the threaded end of which is projected up above the top face of thetie closeup to the edge of cross-seats ,2, as shown, and the upper endsof said bolts 4 are threaded to receive the clamp and jamnuts 5 5, whichwhen the edges of seats 2 are undercut, as shown in Fig. 2a, can beturned over the edge ofthe outer rail-Hanges and serve to hold the saidrails in place, as indicated in Fig. 2a; but on the score of safety andpositiveness in holding the rails from spreading Aor buckling laterallywe employ separate clamp-plates, the construction and application ofwhich will be clearly understood by reference to Figs. 2 and 5, fromwhich it will be seen two plates 7 are employed for each end of the tieto engage the rails l l, and said plates have a body portion 7 flat toseat solid upon the upper face of the tie and have their inner end 7bmade square to it solid against the web of the rail, the under side ofthe inner ends of the plates 7. being properly shaped to snugly fit overthe Hase-flange of the rail. The plates 7 each havea central aperture7c, whereby they can be readily fitted over the threaded ends of thebolts 4. AIn practice the apertures 7c are so disposed that when fittedon the bolts the inner ends 7b of the plates will rest tightly againstthe Web of the rails, and as the two plates 7 7 at each end oppose eachother it follows that when secured by the IOO nuts 5 5 said plates willhold the rails from lateral displacement in the seats 2 or strainagainst the edges 2a of said seats.

To further increase the stability of our railsupporting means, each tieis reinforced by a pair of rods or bars 8 8, which extend lengthwise ofthe tie centrally thereof and have their ends terminate near the outerends of the tie-body, as shown in Fig. 3, and said ends are turned up,as shown at 8a, to form locking portions to prevent lengthwise movementof the bars or rods and their withdrawal in case of breaking andseparation of the parts of the tie. The ends 8 serve as means forsustaining the tie in its proper shape and from disintegration in caseit should crack transversely. To still further hold the plates 7 7 fromlateral movement on the ties and in consequence maintain the rails inrigid, firm, and non-spreadable condition, the top of the tie l may alsobe formed with longitudinal seats 2X, which may merge with thecrossseats 2. These seats 2 are of the width of plates 7 7 and areintended to receive the body portion 7 of said plates, which by reasonof their engagement with the seats or depressions 2X are therebypractically held as a rigid or integral part of the tie, and by reasonthereof should the nuts 5 u become loosened the plates 7 7 would stillbo held firmly from lateral movement and the rails likewise in theirproper alinement and from lateral movement upon the ties. Theconstruction is such that the ties, clamp-plates, and connecting-rodsare joined together as a single body and neither of the parts can havefree movement upon the others.

At the joints of the rail-section we dispense with the clamp-plates 7and in lieu thereof employ the clamp or joint plates l() l0 shown inFigs. 6 and 6, by reference to which it will be noticed the plates l0 l0act as ordinary fish-plates, they being made fast by the tiebolts 1l 1l,and said plates 10 10 have their base 10CL 10a made to engage therail-base flanges and provided with apertured ear-like extensions 10b10b for cooperating with the stud-bolts, which extensions may also bedepressed or formed with a flange to project below the plane of theupper surface of the tie, whereby to engage the longitudinal seats inthe top of the tie, which will assist in holding the rail-joint-clampingdevices firmly interlocked with the rail.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, it is thought the advantages and completeoperation of our invention will be readily understood.

Our invention does away with the necessity of skilled labor.

Ve are aware that cross-ties having seats to receive the rails andclamping devices secured to the tie for engaging the rail-anges are old.Our invention dierentiates from such general form oi' rail-holdingdevices in thefpeculiar and novel correlation and detailed constructionof the ties, the plates, and the bars, as hereinbefore described.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

l. A railway cross-tie and bed, comprising a cement tie, havingcross-seats in its upper face to receive the base member of the rails,lianges on the sides of said seats, which overlap the edges of therail-base, bolts embedded in the tie-body and projected up at one sideof and above the cross-seats,apertured clampplates adapted to fit overthe bolt ends, said plates having rail-web-abutting portions, and meansfor securing the plates xedly on the tie, and the bolts, as set forth.

2. A rail-supporting means, comprising a tie, having cross-seats toreceive the flanged base of the rail, the sides of the cross-seatsterminating in danges, which snugly overlap the edges of thebase-flanges of the rail; bolts embedded in the tie-body and projectedup at each side above the cross-seats, and nuts on the bolts serving toreinforce the overreaching edges of the rail-seats, as shown and for thepurposes described.

3. In a rail tie or support of the character described, a cement tiehaving cross-seats to receive the flanged base portions of the rails,said cross-seats provided with anged edges adapted to overreach theedges of the railbase; bolts embedded in the tie and projected above thecross-seats, said bolts being so located with reference to the rail thatits outer edges contact therewith, longitudinally-extending seats,plates having portions adapted to engage and tit wit-hin thelongitudinal seats and having their ends arranged to abut, fromopposite-sides, that portion of the base of the rail not overlapped bythe fianges of the railseat, and means for securing the plates incontact With the rails, as shown and for the purposes specified.

4. The combination with the cross-tie having transverse seats andstud-bolts, fixedly held on the tie, projected up at each side of thesaid seats, and joint-plates adapted to clamp the meeting ends of therails and having apertured ears to engage the stud-bolts, all arrangedas set forth and for the purposes described.

Trios'. M. LEE. GEORGE W. I-IARTsoN.

Witnesses:

J. G. SCHURTZ, J. W. BENJAMIN.

IIO

